Over 100 Miles an Hour

On the night of July 4, the driver of a 2012 Audi led East Hampton Town police on a wild chase up Route 114, which officers considered so dangerous that they broke off pursuit. Sag Harbor police eventually found the car parked on Meadowbrook Way near Sunset Beach Road, with the driver, Nicholas J. Smith of East Hampton in the back seat, and turned him over to town police.
The pursuit began on Stephen Hand’s Path, when police spotted the Audi moving “at a high rate of speed in an extremely erratic and reckless fashion.” Officers activated their emergency lights, but reported that the driver gunned the car north on Route 114 at over 100 miles an hour, forcing cars headed in both directions, on a road thick with holiday traffic, to pull onto the shoulder.
Afraid someone could get hurt if they continued the chase, the officers made the decision to stop the pursuit and instead put out a BOLO — police shorthand for “be on the lookout.”
Back at headquarters, town police charged Mr. Smith with reckless driving and fleeing a police officer, class A misdemeanors, as well as a number of moving violations. He was released without bail at headquarters on an appearance ticket, and will be arraigned in Justice Court on Aug. 7.